Yummy Yarn

It's coming up for a year since I first discovered Eskimimi's blog, it's still fabulous and... as of today Eskimimi has launched her own hand-dyed yarn - it's awesome. She blogs about it here, and the shop is hosted by Etsy, here.

I've just bought this lovely yarn:

(image grabbed from Eskimimi's shop on Etsy)

Which is inspired by blue hydrangeas, the same flowers as in my wedding bouquet:

(photo by Tall Order Photography, flowers by Wedding Flowers by Catherine)

Love them both!

Wedding Crafting

I meant to take pictures of the many things we made but I mostly didn't get chance. Still, here are a couple:

Table plan:



Place card:


I was surprised at how well the crafting all worked out. Some was a bit last minute but it all looked lovely once it was done.

FO: iTouch Sock

Apologies for the somewhat infrequent posting, it seems this wedding business consumes rather more time than I might have expected. Still, we're nearly there now...!

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This is the first Finished Object for a while, I was trying to be all monogamous with my knitting. It was kind of going quite well. I finished all the projects I had on my needles with the exception of the Lace Ribbon Scarf (Summer Scarf) which is knitted but it waiting for a space to wash and block it before I can officially declare it all done. I then had zero projects on the needles, so started and finished knitting the Damson, which then joined the washing/blocking pile. Pleased to find that projects knit up quicker when you actually knit them and don't try dividing your time between numerous other things, I started the Hey Teach (Hey Tech - my 'a' key was broken at the time, and it's not like I'm not a techy person). I knit the back of the Hey Te(a)ch and then cast on from the front... all good so far. Then I cast on for this sock for my new iTouch, some Armenia Wristbands, and a pair of leg warmers for Lizi... oops!

Anyway, the iTouch sock is done:

Pattern: Improvised, I cast on 40 stitches using a figure of eight cast on and then knit in 2x2 ribbing from the bottom up until I reached the top of the iTouch. I then cast off 20 stitches using a traditional bind off and carried on knitting the remaining stitches in 2x2 ribbing. The buttonhole is a horizontal button hole over six stitches using the modification described in The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques.

Yarn: King Cole Inspire in Eden from Abakhan, Preston.

Buttons: also from Abakhan, Preston; I think it's the 28mm Dill Button.

Mods: None/all - see pattern.

Project: online at Ravelry.

One Great Knitter (knitcroblo3)

Here's the third of my knitcroblo blog posts. Mimi asks...

"Write about a knitter whose work (whether because of project choice, photography, styling, scale of projects, stash, etc) you enjoy. If they have an enjoyable blog, you might find it a good opportunity to send a smile their way."

Well, I'm with mooncalfmakes here, Eskimimi's projects always offer me some inspiration. I love colour, and despite an obsession with smooshiness it is more often a colour that initially draws me to a yarn. Eskimimi's projects always use colour fantastically and her photographs really make the most of the colours too. I particularly love her Regnbue scarf and her two hot water bottles (shepherd, fish).

Other bloggers I love include the Yarn Harlot (neat projects and fun to read), Salihan Crafts (nice photography and really cute crocheted fruit) and French Press Knits (I will knit those slippers one day).

Check out other bloggers posts tagged with knitcroblo3 via Google.

An Inspirational Pattern (knitcroblo2)

Here's the second of my knitcroblo blog posts. Mimi asks...

"Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!"

Towards the end of last year I started thinking about techniques I'd like to learn/test in my knitting. A blog post was started but never published, but it essentially came down to: socks every which way, colourwork, felting, entrelac. Those things pretty much all still stand. I'm not sure I have one pattern I particularly aspire to, but here are some ideas:

A blanket/afghan, perhaps the Ten Stitch Twist (flickr/ravelry), the Hemlock Ring Blanket (flickr/ravelry) or The Great American Afghan (amazon/ravelry). This is one of those staying-power aspirations. A felted bag, specifically the Calla Lily Bag (flickr/ravelry) from The Knitter's Book of Yarn. Something crochet, perhaps the Penguin Bowling set (flickr/ravelry) or perhaps not - anything crochet would be a challenge really. A garment or two - I'm hoping to start Melo (flickr/ravelry)one day soon, and eventually I'd love to knit a Sylvi (flickr/ravelry). Some more socks: I'd like to try toe-up for my next pair I think. Some more challenging lace.

Check out other bloggers posts tagged with knitcroblo2 via Google.

Starting Out (knitcroblo1)

Here's the first of my knitcroblo blog posts. Mimi asks...

"How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?"

Knitting

I first started knitting in a variety of frustrated episodes as a child. Various relatives tried to teach me (as they do), but I couldn't ever remember what I was doing and, unusually for me, quickly lost patience. It was rare for me not to be able to learn something new so I undoubtedly proclaimed the whole thing to be stupid and rationalised that I didn't need/want to know how to knit anyway.

I first started being able to knit in January 2008 when, like Mimi, I picked up a book called 'I Love Knitting' in a discount book shop. The book wasn't terribly informative but it was motivation and between its confusing instructions and some people around me who actually knew how to knit I finally figured out the basics of garter stitch and started my way on an acrylic scarf for my boyfriend who's allergic to wool anyway. The project progressed slowly and it took a long time for me to decide I actually kind of enjoyed this knitting thing. In August, once the scarf was done (and what perfect weather for it...), I played around with other projects, many of which were never finished but each taught me something new.

That first scarf - as modeled by the cat, not the boyfriend :)

I first started to be able to knit with confidence whilst out in the US last year. Three months in Pittsburgh for my PhD may or may not have helped my studies, but it did wonders for my knitting. In the first few days of my stay I was feeling lonely and rather bored, particularly of an evening. On some bizarre whim I put "knitting" into a Google map of Pittsburgh and discovered Natural Stitches. I drew myself a map, plotted the bus times and decided I would head out there the following night - it rained torrentially and I decided that maybe the next night would do instead :) Over my three months in Pittsburgh, the lovely folks at Natural Stitches taught me an incredibly large amount about knitting in a sort-of gentle, absorption way and I suspect without them:

1) I would never know the things I know now

2) I would still (and probably always) be somewhat afraid of my knitting

3) I'd have a much smaller stash!

So there we are, my knitting adventure so far.

Crochet

I'm still at the beginning of my crochet journey. I played around with crochet a bit on my own after learning to knit in 2008, but never had any idea if I was doing the right thing. Out in the US I took a couple of crochet classes at Natural Stitches and I'm now able to form a few stitches and even follow a pattern if there's someone there to hold my hand :) One day I'll commit to really trying to master pattern reading on my own.

Check out other bloggers posts tagged with knitcroblo1 via Google.

Knitcroblo

(image from this post at eskimimi knits)

Look out blogging world - starting Monday knitters and crocheters worldwide will be blogging about yarn, projects and all things fibre-related. The lovely Mimi is running the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - during which bloggers will post on a given topic each day. Full details can be found on her blog: here. I'm looking to use it as a good excuse to get blogging again :)